Ever Onwards
by shmulia
Summary: An alternate ending to The Legend of Korra. Because as much as I loved the finale, I wanted a Team Avatar ending.


Korra slings her bag over her shoulder, looking round her room one last time. She's sure she hasn't forgotten anything, but she knows Tenzin will ask if she has, and this way she can be sure when she tells him no, unlike on their last trip when she _had _forgotten something. But to be fair, Tenzin hadn't noticed Meelo was missing either...

Her goodbyes are brief; this time, the airbenders know Korra won't be gone long, although that doesn't stop Jinora from giving her a book to read ("You know, in case you're bored in the Spirit World!") Ikki hugging her tightly, and Meelo farting affectionately. At least, she thinks it's affectionately. He may have just needed to fart.

Korra leaves Air Temple Island to a chorus of goodbyes, and is in Republic City before she knows it. The buildings, destroyed in Kuvira's attack, are well on their way to being restored. Korra had postponed the trip until she knew she wasn't needed for a while, refusing to shirk her duties to Republic City when it needed her the most. Eventually though, once the cleaning up of the city had taken place, Korra's presence was unnecessary; it became the builders job to rebuild and expand Republic City around the spirit vines, and she was no longer needed to oversee President Raiko's plans and building ideas in case they disrupted the spirits or the new Spirit Portal.

When the little boat pulls up to the docks, Asami is there, waiting. She spots Korra and smiles, waving the Avatar over to where she's parked her Satomobile. Korra tosses her bag into the backseat when she reaches Asami, and pulls her into a hug.

"How are you doing?" Korra asks. She draws back from Asami, looking at her intently. She's worried; Hiroshi's death has had a huge impact on Asami, understandably. She looks... tired. Asami smiles, her heart not quite in it.

"I'm ok. How are you?" she responds, her voice sounding overly confident. Korra isn't sure if Asami is trying to convince Korra about her state of being, or herself.

"I'm good," Korra says. "Ready for this vacation!" She grins and moves into the passenger seat as Asami places herself behind the wheel. A genuine smile forms on Asami's face.

"Yeah, me too."

They drive in silence for a while, Korra taking in the new Republic City. It's changed so much in the four years since she arrived, she doubts that she would recognise the City she snuck into on Naga anymore.

She wants to ask Asami how she is. How she _really_ is. But though the two are close, they've never quite reached that stage of friendship – they've never seemed to have the time. They can tell each other about things comfortably enough, but they don't _ask_ each other about it. They wait, and wonder if the other will confide in them. And, Korra realises, Asami isn't about to confide in her about the loss of her father anytime soon. She's already told Asami that she's there for her if she needs to talk about it, if she needs anything, but she knows that Asami doesn't want to focus on the pain right now, a feeling Korra herself is pretty familiar with. So she doesn't force the issue. But she does want to lift the silence pressing on them, so she says the first thing that comes to mind.

"We're meeting the boys at the portal, right?"

Asami smiles again.

"Yeah. I don't know if they'll be on time though. Mako has some reports to write up, and Bolin has to say goodbye to Opal, so we may be waiting a while."

Korra chuckles. "Well, I think we can manage that."

Korra's thrilled about the holiday to the Spirit World; what was originally a throw-away idea from Asami had blossomed into a group holiday, one that was sorely needed after the battle with Kuvira. Korra had realised it had been over three years since Team Avatar had had time just for them to hang out, with no enemies to fight or a city to defend. Whilst they still had responsibilities – Mako, who had been reinstated as a detective, needed to get permission to go from Lin, who had surprised them by giving him two extra weeks of paid leave so he could enjoy his vacation with them; Asami had Future Industries to run; Korra had her duties as the Avatar to attend to, and Bolin had been helping the Beifongs rebuild Zaofu – they had decided that they needed time together. Team Avatar had been apart for too long.

They arrive at Asami's mansion so she can park her Satomobile and collect her bag. They're packing lightly for the trip, but Korra can't help but remember the number of bags Asami brought to Air Temple Island years ago, after Hiroshi was outed as an equalist. She's desperately hoping Asami has learned to minimise her packing since then, and is impressed when she comes out with one (semi-large) backpack.

They walk slowly over to the Spirit Portal, taking their time in order to catch up on the past few weeks. Asami tells Korra about how she's been running Future Industries single-handedly whilst Varrick and Zhu Li have been on their honeymoon; it's now their turn to do it while she takes a break. Korra relates the antics of the airbabies – although they may be too grown up to use that term anymore; how Jinora and Kai have been becoming stronger as a couple, how Ikki has shown an aptitude for dance after Su gave her some lessons, and how Meelo is trying to teach Rohan to draw.

When they reach the Spirit Portal, laughing about Ikki's possible crush on Huan Beifong, they're surprised to see Mako and Bolin already there. The two are sitting on the ground, Bolin lying on his back, Mako sitting upright, clearly on the watch for Korra and Asami. Mako stands up when he sees them, breaking into a grin and giving Bolin a little kick to notify him of their arrival. Bolin leaps up and runs to them, bridging the distance almost instantly, pulling Asami into his arms. Korra drops her bag on the ground and runs to Mako, who sweeps her into a spinning hug. He puts her back down, smiling.

"You guys are late," he says. Bolin and Asami join them, Bolin shrugging Korra's bag onto his shoulder over his own.

"Yeah!" Bolin pouts. "Mako made me rush my goodbye to Opal so we arrived on time, and you weren't even here!" Asami giggles at the look on Bolin's face, and, as Bolin smiles a little at her reaction, Korra realises Bolin too is worried about their friend.

"Yeah, well, we assumed you guys would be late, what with _your_ work and _your_ girlfriend, so we took our time," Korra says. "Sorry!" Bolin puts his finger on his chin to make it look like he's thinking hard.

"Weeeeell, I _suppose_ we can forgive you. On one condition."

Asami raises an eyebrow at the earthbender. "And that would be?"

Boling grins. "Group hug!" He cries, and pulls his friends into his arms. "Man, I'm so psyched we're doing this holiday! Team Avatar is _back!"_

The other three return the embrace wholeheartedly, and are all smiling when they eventually move away. Korra pokes Bolin in the arm as Mako turns to Asami, and draws the earthbender's attention to her.

"What, no hug for me?" She says, opening her arms to her first friend in Republic City. Bolin laughs.

"Well, I wanted to give you the best hug last!" he says, entering her embrace. The pair haven't seen each other much since Korra's return (what with Bolin's employment with Kuvira, and then his leaving to save the Beifongs) and she's missed him.

"I can't wait for us to have a proper catch up", Korra says to him, moving back and smiling. "It's been too long. I want to know about everything I missed, ok?"

Bolin grins. "So you're not looking for a quiet, peaceful holiday then?"

Korra looks over at Mako and Asami, who are talking quietly. She sees Mako hold Asami's hand, and she knows he's comforting her about her recent loss. She sometimes forgets that Mako too saw his parents killed in front of him, and she can't help but think that the holiday may help Asami even more than she thinks.

She looks back at Bolin's eager face.

"Where's the fun in peace and quiet?" she smiles. "I'm more of an action girl."

"Like we needed to be told _that,_" she hears Mako say behind her.

"Yeah, I think we guessed that already," Asami adds.

Bolin offers Korra her bag back, and she takes it from him, pulling it over her shoulder. "Well, just thought I'd make sure you knew," she said. "You all ready to go?"

Asami and Mako nod, moving one step closer to the portal when Bolin stops them.

"Wait! We have one more thing to do!" Bolin states, and sticks his hand into the middle of the group. Mako looks at his little brother, and puts his hand on top of Bolin's. Asami gently places her hand on Mako's, and Korra grins as she puts her hand over her three best friends', all of them recalling the first time they did this, years ago before the fight against Amon.

"It's good to be with Team Avatar again," Bolin says.

"Yeah," Korra agrees. "You guys ready for another adventure?"

"Because we haven't had any of _those_ recently," Mako remarks dryly.

"Let's go, Team Avatar," Asami says, a smile in her voice.

Korra clasps Asami's hand under hers, pulling it away from the pile. She grabs Mako's in her other, and watches as Asami does the same to Bolin.

"Come on then! The Spirit World is waiting!" Korra says, pulling her friends into the new portal. The four of them are silhouetted against the golden light as they leave Republic City, reunited properly for the first time in four years.


End file.
